We Might Be Strangers
by LochCamaen
Summary: In a single drunken mistake, Remy LeBeau stumbles into the lives of Rogue and Kitty one night. It's not like they were ever that normal to begin with. Romy & Kiotr. College AU with no powers.
1. Chapter 1

_Wooow, it's been some time since I've written any 'proper' fanfiction (there are oneshots and drabbles on tumblr but nothing great) and now I'm finally getting back into the swing of things...maybe? I'm still not 100% sold on the idea of making this fic a long-term commitment due to my webcomic schedule, but I'd like to prove to myself that I can still write for my fandoms in a semi-professional way._

_This fanfic idea was prompted by this tumblr post www. lochcamaen . tumblr post/105041064852/tickatocka-i-really-want-an-i-accidentally and prodded by my best friends. If you want more, let me know by leaving a review._

_I wrote this chapter with X-Men Evolution in mind, but it's really a mixture of the general Marvel universe. Evolution's just the main inspiration for the look and feel of the X-Men characters used._

_Onto the story! Enjoy._

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><p>The blinking red flash of 7:06 AM was the first thing Rogue registered when she slowly blinked open an eye. The second was the insistent whispers of Kitty to wake up and something something.<p>

The third was the sudden urge to punch her room mate for waking her up so early on a Sunday when she had no work shift for once.

"Kitty, whaaat...?"

"Oh, finally!" Kitty sat up from the bed, bouncing on her heels and twiddling with the edges of her tattered pajama sleeves. "Thank God, something's really wrong."

"W-What...?" Rogue pushed herself up from her mattress with one arm as the other gently rubbed at her eyes. "What's good 'bout wrong...?"

"You know what I mean!" Kitty squeaked before quickly covering her mouth and darting her eyes to the door. Rogue managed to groggily stink-eye her while kicking off her sheets. "Anna–"

"N-No no noooo... Ya woke meh up early, it's Rogue."

"I-I wh–" The brunette curled her fingers into fists and resisted the urge to screech by pursing her lips into a tight line. She continued to bounce, waiting for her best friend to stand up. _Stupid friggin' nickname with stupid friggin' rules!_

"Okay, Ah have risen..." Rogue yawned and stretched her arms out, nearly hitting Kitty in the head. Probably on purpose. "What the hell is tha problem?"

"I heard noises in the main room earlier but Lockheed was with me so it wasn't him which means someone is in the apartment and he ran off and hasn't come back and I–"

Rogue covered Kitty's mouth and motioned for her to breath. The smaller girl did so and slacked her shoulders as Rogue lifted her hand away. The Southerner sighed and rubbed her forehead. Lockheed, the resident tom cat in their small apartment, was much loved by both women (and the neighbours seemed fond of him too) but Kitty loved him like he was her first born child or something. She could still feel the burning hole in her bank from all the emergency trips to the vet clinic when he was a kitten. Kitty worried too damn much.

But now Rogue was worried about something else entirely.

"Ya think someone broke into the apartment?" Kitty nodded. "Did ya leave the window open again?"

….

Another nod.

"Kitty–"

"I knoooow." The Illinois girl pouted and whined, feeling her full guilt. "But Lockheed needs to go out at night."

"Not tha point." Rogue held a finger up and sighed again. "How long ago did ya hear noise?"

"10, 15 minutes ago? It was a voice, like a guy's."

Rogue adjusted her sweatpants, then grabbed a wooden baseball bat from behind her bed header. Kitty gave her a disapproving look.

"Rogue, you broke Bobby's nose with that thing. I think that's overkill."

"Ya wanna chance there bein' a rapist in our place?" Both eyebrows rose and Kitty slouched in defeat. Rogue slung the bat over her shoulder, then tip toed her way towards the door with Kitty following close behind. "Ah'm gonna peek in quickly, an' if there's a guy we're callin' the police. We'll climb out tha fire escape 'fore they get here."

"Plan. Roger roger."

The two crept out into the cramped corridor and checked around for any warning signs before slipping down to the far end. Rogue kept her grip tight on her bat, crouching down slightly as she came near the wide crack in the door. She hadn't heard any sounds yet, not even of the bell from Lockheed's collar. She wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign yet.

She kept Kitty in her spot as she pried the door open more with the end of her bat, praying under her breath that it didn't squeak. Someone up there must've felt kind, since it kept silent the entire time. Rogue squeezed her head through the gap, giving herself full view of the tiled kitchen and the living room just past the island...

…That was entirely empty.

"Kitty, no one's here."

"You sure?"

"Ya, I am!"

"_Fils de salope_…"

Rogue and Kitty both gasped sharply and clung to each other's arms, frozen still in fear of being spotted by whoever spoke. Rogue, now fully awake and alert, sprung up onto her feet and held her bat up with white knuckles.

"Get the phone."

Kitty only nodded, letting go of her and crawling back the way they had come while Rogue stepped into the kitchen fully guarded. Keeping her breathing low and her footsteps light, she reached the island to hear a few more muffled phrases. One of them included 'piss off, cat', which meant that Kitty was going to be ecstatic very soon.

Rogue peered around the island, squinting her eyes to better her view of the living room. She caught a shadow moving by the couch and breathed a sigh of relief when she recognised the shape of Lockheed's tail. He wasn't in any immediate danger, thank heaven. That seemed to catch the tom's attention as he turned away from the couch to catch her eye and meow loudly.

An arm then grew from behind the couch's armrest and swatted at Lockheed, who seemed only mildly annoyed by the attacker. Rogue was far, _far_ more than that.

"Jesus Christ–!" She threw down the bat and slammed her fist down on the light switch for the entire room, casting out the shadows and revealing the anonymous man lying face down on her couch. Anonymous shirtless man to boot.

"Kitty Pryde, there's a hobo on our couch!"

Kitty burst into the kitchen at that moment and skidded to a stop, holding her phone in hand only to drop it once Lockheed mewed at her.

"Locky!" She swooped him off the floor and hugged him tightly, burying her face into his Russian blue fur. Rogue swatted her shoulder and growled loudly.

"Hobo!"

"N...Not a hobo..."

The two women snapped their heads over to the couch resident, who was now attempting to sit up and run a hand through his tangled brown hair. Rogue made a move to grab her bat again when he finally lifted his head up to meet their gazes.

"...Y' not Pete."

His tired, hungover brown eyes (Rogue could've sworn they glinted red for a second there) searched them both and he repeated himself, thumping his head onto a couch cushion. Kitty stood confused as Rogue stormed over and poked him with her bat.

"Who in the hell are ya?! We'll call tha cops if ya don't get out!"

"_Merde_, _moi_ head..."

"Well?"

The man lifted his head up again, narrowing his eyes at Rogue as he scratched his 5-o'clock shadow. She returned the glare, daring him to refuse her again. Kitty came up behind her, holding Lockheed close as she studied the stranger before them.

"I honestly t'ought dis was Rasputin's place." He closed his eyes and rubbed them, groaning in displeasure. "Obviously not."

"Rasputin's our neighbour." Kitty stroked Lockheed's head and glanced up at Rogue. "One door up. He's the painter guy...?"

"Oh yeah." Rogue nodded to her and kept her bat up in the guy's face, much to his chagrin. "Still didn' answer mah question, drunko. Who tha hell are ya?"

The man groaned again and shifted, poking the bat away from him with a finger. He cracked open one eye and smirked – somehow not looking like a diseased rat despite the greasy hair, baggy eyes and growing beard; that only irked Rogue more – offering a hand to them.

"Name's Remy LeBeau, mademoiselles. _Désolé_ 'bout all dis, won't happen again."

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><p><em>For anyone reading that's read my older works on here that are currently on a long hiatus, I'm not currently planning on going back to them just yet. It's been a LONG time since I've touched them and the plots need a lot of re-working; my style has changed significantly; there are things I've foreshadowed and forgotten about andor dropped from the story completely; etc etc. TimeScape is my biggest project and I still think about it every damn day. It pains me to not be able to write it, and I would if it wasn't such a complicated story; I have such big plans for it, so big that I probably could never get 80% down in writing._

_I'm not sure if I'm explaining myself clearly enough, but just so there's no confusion: No plans to return to old fanfics as of December 2014. I'll write up something if that changes in the coming months._

_Review and favourite!_


	2. Chapter 2

_This chapter came unexpectedly. I was just avoiding my work load when the motivation to continue this popped up and I complied. I have no will power, I know. I'm **still** not entirely sure whether or not to make this a long-term project, so let me know if you'd like a full story out of this!_

_For now, enjoy the un-beta'd chapter that I wrote while watching too many Friends episodes._

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><p>By the time Rogue and Kitty had come to an agreement over what to do with the hungover Remy in their living room, it was far too late for Rogue to go back to sleep. Instead, she opted to prepare herself a bacon sandwich for breakfast (as well as to annoy the drunkard still on the couch with the smell) and keep an eye on Lockheed whilst Kitty went to find their neighbour. Said cat was now rubbing against her legs and mewing loudly.<p>

"Ya know you can't have any, Lock. Kitty will smack meh." Rogue flipped the bacon pieces over before bending down to pick the Russian Blue up. He stretched a paw out to the pan and she pulled him back. "I'll get ya some real food instead."

Lockheed rubbed his cheek against her's and nipped her chin. Rogue flicked his nose and glared at him. His large yellow eyes just stared back, as always. Kitty spoiled him too damn much for his own good. The Southerner muttered to herself and went to rummage through the semi-empty cupboards, swatting Lockheed's paws when he was about to knock something over. It was like having a toddler, _honestly_. He finally left things be when Rogue grabbed a tin of cat food and yanked the top off.

"Much better." Lockheed then began to mewl loudly and jumped out of her arms, bumping into her shin in an effort to get his meal. "Behave yourself, ya lil' bastard..."

The cries continued anyway until Rogue emptied the can into the food bowl, but once the cat went quiet, the apartment guest spoke up.

"_Ta gueule_... Doesn' he shut up...?"

"You first, Swamp Rat." She could feel his glare on her back but she couldn't find any energy to throw a stronger one back. Besides, he was suffering enough with a hangover and once she started eating her sandwich in front of him, she'd torture the Cajun enough to last her a few lifetimes. _That's what you get for breaking into my apartment, douchepants_.

For the meantime, she'd have to deal with listening to his groaning and whining.

**0XX0**

For as long as she could remember, Kitty Pryde had only ever been scared of three things: Spiders; creepy old guys following her home, and adult responsibilities. Okay, maybe that last one was more than just one thing but that wasn't the point. Talking to others had always been one of her strengths; an area which Rogue failed in so Kitty made up for it. It was one of the many things that made them work so well together over the years.

However, she was now dreading having to speak to Piotr Rasputin, their Russian neighbour who lived just across the hall.

Kitty stared up at the 19 number plate on the green door and held her knuckle just an inch away, biting at her lip. She had only come across Piotr a few times since moving into the building, and they had only shared a word or two in those brief moments. She honestly knew more about him from the women in the laundry room than from actually speaking to him. Things like him being an art school student (or graduate? No one seemed to agree on which); knowing English better than the 'thugs' down the street; always willing to lend a helping hand to with five kids on the second floor, etcetera etcetera. Hell, she only knew his name because the postman had slipped the wrong letter into their mail box one day and she hadn't noticed until she had opened it.

Despite all these facts proving that nothing bad would come out of actually having a conversation with the guy, Kitty was absolutely terrified to her deepest core. Why? Not because he was actually really cute and apparently single, noooo.

Never.

"Rogue is gonna kill me if I don't hurry up..." Kitty remarked to herself, holding back a shudder at the thought of leaving her best friend alone with the hungover Remy for too long. He'd probably end up like Jean's ex-boyfriend from high school. That was something she never wanted to see again. "Okay okay, I can do this!"

Without a second thought, Kitty banged her fist against the door and quickly stepped back from it. There were some muffled voices before the door cracked open, revealing a short blonde woman with big blue eyes and a face that could be accurately described as a plum. Not the tall dark-haired man Kitty had expected.

"_Privet_?" The woman asked in a thick Russian accent, idly running her nails down the wooden door and staring up at Kitty. She stared right back.

"Uh...is Piotr awake? I need to talk to him..." Kitty fiddled and twiddled with her fingers, only sparing the girl a glance here and there. The blonde tilted her head, making her hair fall past her shoulder and then perked up before shouting something in her mother tongue. A deeper voice replied in the same language and Piotr appeared behind the girl, looking down at Kitty with the same blue eyes. Fear gripped at her once again and she couldn't make out any words.

"Can ve help you?"

"U-Um, yes _yes_!" Kitty laughed nervously and tried to hide her red face in the folds of her oversized pajamas. "Uh, do you know anyone called, um, Remy LeBeau? 'C-Cause he's on our couch and said he was looking for you..."

Piotr's face fell into a grim scowl and the blonde girl patted his shoulder, talking to him in Russian. He nodded and lifted an arm to let her pass, his expression still not lifting. Kitty looked him over with a raised eyebrow, watching as he ran a hand over his face.

"I..." He started, rubbing the back of his neck and avoiding Kitty's gaze. "I am terribly sorry about him, miss. Remy can...be difficult. He hasn't done any damage?"

"No! No, noooo." Kitty swallowed and tilted back on her feet, smiling as naturally as she could. Judging by Piotr's face, she probably looked like The Joker right now. _Whoops_. "I thought he was a burglar first, and Anna's just mad at him for waking her up so early on her day off. He's also got a killer hangover, which didn't help with Anna's mood at all."

"Huh." Piotr raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms, opening his door more. Kitty made a point to try and not stare at his bare arms - _He must work out a ton, they're huge_ - but was failing in that entirely. "Illyana will take while to get the things. I can get him off your couch."

"That'd be great! Great, thanks." Kitty replied as she stepped aside to let Piotr pass her. He called back to Illyana in his apartment before shutting the door behind him. She smiled up at him and hid her face again when he returned his own to her. They stood together in the hall in silence for a few moments, then Piotr spoke up at last.

"Shall ve go?" He asked, making Kitty nearly jump out of her skin. She skittered for a second but quickly recollected herself and cleared her throat. Spinning on her heel, she came face to face with the shiny 20 on her own door just a few footsteps away. Listening carefully, she couldn't hear any evidence of a fist fight or screaming match, so Rogue hadn't come to kill Remy yet.

That was good, so far.

**0XX0**

When the door to the apartment finally opened again and Kitty walked in with Piotr trailing behind, Rogue and Remy were in the middle of an all-out glaring match. Lockheed was sitting next to Rogue on the kitchen island, innocent to the shenanigans happening. Kitty looked between her room mate and their uninvited guest, then announced herself.

Rogue and Remy both turned their heads to her, but Remy immediately cursed and buried his face into the couch.

"Hey, Kitty." Rogue said with a mouth full of bacon sandwich. Lockheed mewed with her. "Hey, Piotr guy. Welcome ta our humble abode. Mind the drunk asshole."

"Bitch face..." Came from the couch.

"You don't normally make friends so fast. Must be Christmas." Kitty put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes at Rogue.

"You're Jewish."

"Beside the point! He's leaving now anyway." Kitty marched over to the island, whacking Rogue over the head and then picking Lockheed up to cuddle. Rogue grumbled and finished her breakfast, then ran her fingers through the white strands of hair that framed her face. Why white bangs? Because screw anyone that asks, that's why. Or at least that's what her dad had always told her since she'd been his 'lil' bug'.

"Da, sorry for the trouble." Piotr said as he made his way over to the couch Remy was sprawled over. "I vas not even aware Remy was in the city."

"Stark invited _moi _to de opening party." Remy groaned as Piotr lifted him up into a sitting position. "_Ami _paid for de train, den we had a drinkin' contest 'n' my head is gon' explode, Pete."

"No vonder. What happened to your shirt?"

"Ask me when I'm not 'bout to die."

Piotr pulled Remy up onto his feet and held him upright as he turned towards the ladies, wearing his best apology face. "I'm sorry again about all this. Is there anything I can do for help?"

"Keep him far away from us." Rogue muttered and then yelped when Kitty elbowed her in the side with a 'don't screw this up' look in her eye. She glared back.

"We'll let you know, thanks. I'm Kitty, by the way. Grumpy Cat here," If that was Remy sniggering at the stupid nickname, Rogue was gonna gut him. "is An– Ah! Rogue, Rogue!"

The stripe haired Southerner smirked and snatched her pinching nails away from Kitty. Totally worth the shoulder slap she got straight afterwards.

"Nice to meet you both." Piotr went on, unaffected by the madness between friends. "Have nice day."

As Piotr half dragged/half carried Remy out of the apartment, Kitty waved to them cheerily while Rogue counted down to the minute she'd finally have peace again. Before the men excited out of the door, Remy managed to look over his shoulder at them and smirk once again.

"_Adieu__, mesdames_."

Piotr shut the door behind them with his foot and it echoed in the silence all around the room.

"He was quite a looker for a drunk guy–"

"Kitty, no!"

**0XX0**

"Why didn't you go to Belladonna's, Remy?"

The two Russian and Cajun residents of the big lush apartment sat together on a large corner sofa in the living room, all holding their own mugs and sipping from them. Remy was also holding a damp cloth to his forehead and leaning into Illyana's shoulder rub. He narrowed his eyes at Piotr and swallowed.

"Y'know how she woulda reacted seein' _moi _like dat. My ribs still hurt like _merde _from de last time she got pissed off." He shook his head and groaned, clenching his free hand to avoid rubbing the spot. Even with the way he felt now, he could feel the numbness. Maybe the asprin could deal with that once the hangover was over with.

"Remy," Illyana shifted in her seat, reaching over to put her mug on the coffee table. Piotr lifted it and slipped a coaster underneath. The young blonde tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, then slowly rubbed Remy's arm. "Bella is vhat ve in home call, 'a bitch'."

"Illyana." Piotr warned. Remy facepalmed.

"Vhat? It's true."

"Two points." Remy lifted his hand up and adjusted his oversized shirt. "First: it's '**at **home', Illyana."

"I'm still learning, _pridurok_."

"Second: Bella is not dat bad." The Russian siblings threw glances at each other. "She has moments, _mais _she knows 'n' is gettin' better."

"If you say so, _priyatel_'." Piotr shook his head and sipped from his mug, sighing through his nose. Illyana sat back and crossed her arms, hunching her shoulders over. Remy just groaned and covered his eyes.

"...Why's y' neighbour called 'Rogue'?" He asked, earning a pair of loud groans from the two on his sides. "I'm curious. It's weird."

"That's not her real name." Piotr replied, sipping from his mug again. Both Remy and Illyana looked to him, wide eyed and curious. Thinking about it, Remy thought he had heard the Kitty girl say something before screaming the name. "Katya called her another, but I think there's good reason for 'Rogue'."

"Which is?" Remy probed, raising an eyebrow. Illyana repeated him and leaned over with a smirk. Piotr frowned at them both (they were so troublesome together when they wanted to be) but relented.

"I do not know, but I vill respect them. You two should."

"Nah." Remy smirked and chuckled, his deep brown eyes sparkling with a devious glint Piotr never trusted. "Dis Cajun is gonna investigate."


	3. Chapter 3

_And another chapter! I meant to upload this earlier, but things got in the way so I was delayed, sorry! I've made the decision (thanks to my wonderfully annoying friends. Love you all) to continue this fanfic for as long as I can...or until interest in this dies out._

_Enjoy!_

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><p>Days like this were far too common for Rogue's liking. Being stuck inside a tiny, stuffy lecture hall for a subject she was only taking for class credit for hours on end; having zero wifi reception in said hall (this end of the campus absolutely sucked for any technology lover, or anyone bored enough to surf Vine videos during a speech); not being able to text Kitty, Tabitha, Wanda, Amara or even her parents for various reasons, and so many tiny things that just irked her for no rational reason the entire time she was away from her apartment. Throughout each semester, that cramped dirty space in the complex had become her temporary happy place - until she could go to her dad's ranch up in Quebec or stay with her half-brother Kurt on the East Coast. Those were home to her, no matter how long she stayed away between each visit.<p>

Now, with her day of lectures over and a schedule full of projects, Rogue was about ready to give zero craps about her bookstore job.

Not that she hated it, no. The job was something she could have only dreamed of in high school, and even after long shifts that left her with only a few hours sleep, Rogue could honestly say she loved it more than anything. She just hated the events that led up to her arrival at the establishment that Wednesday afternoon.

With it all coupled together, Rogue reserved herself to just get her uniform on and work on the shelves. Hopefully any customers would think she was too busy to help them find any book that was sitting right in front of them. Or maybe someone up there hated her and wanted her dreams crushed.

"Ain't dis a nice surprise, _fille_?" Day: ruined.

Holding back a groan that would get her fired once released, Rogue slammed a book set down onto the trolley beside her and shot a glare in the direction of _that _voice. As she dreaded, the Cajun man was standing nearby over the Art And Culture section, actually cleaned up and looking decent enough to be in public which was a far cry from their first encounter the other night. Though that long trench coat left something to be desired...

Despite that, she much preferred the maroon shirted and ratty jeans toting creeper to the shirtless drunk bum that was on her couch not long ago. Didn't mean she didn't hate him though. _Ohhhh, nooo_.

"What tha **hell **are ya doin' in here?" Rogue spat the question through her teeth, trying not to raise her voice and bring attention to herself. Remy closed the book he was sifting through and smirked at her - _that god damn smirk_! She was gonna punch it off him in a minute - before moving closer. Rogue moved the trolley between them. "**Answer**."

"If y' must know, _fille_, I'm doin' research. Got a job to keep 'n' all, _non_?" Remy's smirk only widened and he held his book up. '_Arts And Crafts For The Modern Victorian_', the title read. Rogue just rolled her eyes.

"_You_, a job? Ah hardly think anybody would be insane enough ta hire you. And stop callin' meh 'girl'! Ya think Ah don't know basic French? Ah'm old enough ta friggin' drink in this country, thank ya." Rogue slammed her palm onto the trolley and felt a burst of joy at seeing Remy flinch back slightly. His expression remained unchanged, however. _Dammit_.

"Okay okay, _désolé_." Remy tucked his book under his arm and held up his hands in surrender, even taking a step back. "What would y' rather I call ya, hmm?"

"Mah name, Rogue."

"Dat's not a name."

The pale girl gritted her teeth and almost growled - it scared her sometimes how much like her father she was - but just glared at him instead. From the look on his face, he was enjoying this way too much.

"It's **_mah _**name and you'll use it before Ah ban ya from this store, Swamp Rat." She pushed the trolley towards him but he didn't back down.

"No need to get violent, madame. I know y' mad at _moi _for breakin' into y' place–"

"Damn right I am!"

"But I honestly t'ought I was in de right place. I didn' mean anyt'ing by it; I'm sorry, really."

Rogue narrowed her eyes and looked Remy up and down, studying him intently. She had to hand it to him; he certainly wasn't acting like the guy she had met that morning. Sure, the smirk was there but it wasn't a constant presence nor nearly as sleazy. That was probably the best word to describe the first Remy – a sleazy slimeball thinking he was hot stuff. Now he was subdued and sincerely apologising. But Rogue wasn't a woman to be fooled.

"Who set ya up to this?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Remy's eyes snapped wide open and he put a hand on his hip. "Y' t'ink I'm not bein' genuine?"

"Maybe, maybe not." She replied, checking her fingernails and cocking her hip to the side. "Ah've known enough guys like you to know that ya either expect somethin' from meh or somebody set ya up to apologise."

"So y' just assume I'm like de rest?" Brown and green eyes stared each other down, unmoving for what seemed like hours. Rogue nudged the trolley just hard enough to bump it into Remy's foot. He flinched and lifted his leg away from the offending wheel. Rogue chuckled and stood with a straight back.

"Well, Swamp Rat?"

"Name's Remy, remember?" Said Cajun adjusted himself and dusted his jeans down, glaring at Rogue half-heartedly. "If it helps, Pete did ask _moi _to patch t'ings up with ya. But I was gon' apologise anyway, whether _mon ami_ asked or not."

"Oh, Ah see now." Rogue just raised her eyebrows and picked up a pair of matching books from the trolley, placing them on the half-empty shelf above her head. She didn't want to look like she was slacking off if any of the other employees came walking in. Things were relaxed around here but there were still standards to perform to.

"Oui. Somet'ing 'bout not wantin' t' make a bad impression on," He made air quotes with his fingers. "'Katya'. Y' roommate, I t'ink?"

"Kitty?" Rogue blinked and shoved a book into a random spot on the shelf, snapping her head to face Remy again. "He likes her?"

"_Je ne sais pas_." Remy shrugged and shoved his hands into his coat pockets, rolling back on the heels of his shoes. Somehow the book under his arm managed to stay in place. "By de way, y' never answered my question..."

"Ya do realise Ah got a job to keep as well, right?" Rogue drawled, turning away again to switch some books around from shelf to shelf. She could practically hear the thump of disappointment next to her; she smiled.

"Seriously, lady, what's y' real name? Dis is gonna keep _moi _awake at night an' I'll keep comin' back here 'til I get m' answer." That made Rogue cringe unwillingly and she shuddered at the thought of having to deal with this bastard for 3 days a week until Thanksgiving or whenever one of them left town. Then a thought struck her.

"Ah ain't telling ya mah name, but Ah'll make ya a deal." Remy perked up and leaned against the trolley, motioning for her to continue. "Just call meh Rogue an' don't pester meh for mah name, and Ah'll forgive ya for breakin' in."

Rogue then leaned against the trolley herself, giving Remy a hard look. He shot her one straight back, running her deal through his head a few times. He then held out a hand and that stupid smirk returned to his face.

"I t'ink I can deal on dat." Rogue nodded and gave his hand a firm shake with her own.

"Also, if ya tell Piotr that Kitty would like to go out with him, Ah may consider not guttin' you next time ya show up drunk."

Remy ducked his head and laughed, pulling his hand away to give Rogue a mock salute. "Have ya no faith in me, Rogue?"

"None whatsoever."

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><p><em>Sorry for the shorter chapter this time, but I really wanted to get the Kiotr subplot rolling. The main plot will return soon enough, no worries! Thanks for all the appreciation you've shown this fic; I didn't expect so much! I'll update this again with a longer chapter soon enough, and if you think you know where this is heading...well, you don't. <em>

_I've done my research and done a lot of plotting on my part to avoid the tropes that plague a lot of romance fanfics and the Romy pairing, just to give you all a unique experience._ _So when I say this fanfic is a slow build, I mean it._

_Keep sending your reviews, follows and favourites!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Sorry this took so long to get done. I've been behind on so much projects because of the holidays and my new schedule means that I'll be constantly working on art projects until April or May, I think? I'm going to try my best to update this fic every week, but don't count on it!_

_Anyways, time for Kitty and Illyana._

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><p>Wednesdays had never been too much of a spectacle for Kitty Pryde. Ever since middle school, it had just been a day that she could only call 'meh'. Nothing ever happened, and even if it did, it wasn't something you would write to home about. Every single week without fail, it was the same. So Kitty had devised her own perfect system to beat the boredom.<p>

Ever since entering college, Wednesdays were Chore Day. And project day if she really needed to get extra work done.

As per usual on her schedule, Kitty was taking her and Rogue's week laundry down to the building's laundrette along with a book for studying. Just like in the dorms on campus, anyone would steal your machine time if you weren't looking. After wasting $5 on someone else's dirty socks, Kitty made a commitment to just stay at her machine until it was all done. It was probably best that she was in charge of this chore; Rogue would rather make a big deal with the timer thief then wait it out. Again, it was another thing that made their living situation so great.

On this particular day, Kitty seemed to be alone for the lunchtime slot at the washing machines, which suited her just fine. She could probably get some essay research done with the peace and quiet. With a smile on her face and heart, Kitty started to unload her basket into her machine.

The door into the room opened with a loud squeak and then slammed shut after hurried footsteps. Kitty paid no heed, just putting her quarters in and then taking her textbook out of her satchel. Socials class wasn't exactly the most fun thing to write a paper for, but it was only for the semester and her GPA could really use any help it could get if she was to keep her scholarship for another year.

Kitty sat down against her machine, rubbed at her eye and flipped over a page, barely lifting her head and catching a glimpse of the person who had joined her: Illyana.

The Russian blonde, wearing just a thin cardigan over a purple shirt and skinny jeans, was standing in front of a washing machine at the other end of the room, narrowing her eyes at the lettering around the setting controls. She muddled with them a bit before opening the door, throwing a large bundle of white clothes in and then digging through her pockets for quarters. A string of Russian curses slipped past her lips when they came up empty.

Kitty stretched out her back and winced when it popped, which brought Illyana's attention over to her. _Crap_.

The two young women stared each other down for what seemed like an age, blue and violet eyes growing wide with each passing second until Kitty forced herself to blink. Illyana snapped out of it as well and just rocked back on the heels of her shoes.

"_Zdravstvuyte_." The blonde waved to Kitty quickly and she blinked again. "Oh, sorry! Not used to English yet. Hello, I'm Illyana."

"Uh, hi?" Kitty waved back but quickly pulled her hand down. She wasn't really a 'wavy' person; she was more into hugging the crap out of others, much to Rogue's chagrin. "Out of quarters, huh?"

"_Da_, I forgot the money upstairs." Illyana rolled her eyes back and leaned against the machine, groaning loudly. She rubbed her forehead and pushed herself upwards. "I can't go back up vithout losing machine."

"I have some change if you need it." Kitty blurted out before she could stop herself. She mentally cursed herself as Piotr's girlfriend-fiance-whatever beamed at her. Damn her inability to refuse help to others! Now she was gonna be stuck with the so-called 'competition' for the next few hours. Great crap-ickle-ness. **_Buh_**.

As Illyana thanked her in both English and Russian, Kitty took out her purse and dumped her change into awaiting hands. Once the blonde had her back turned, Kitty facepalmed as hard as she could and muttered what little Yiddish her grandparents had attempted to teach her. Oh, they'd be so proud of her right now.

"I'm so happy you're here, Katya." Huh? What the hell? Two minutes alone with her and she already had a nickname. Double damn it. "Not many help me here."

"Yeah, they can be real jerks." Kitty said more to herself rather than to Illyana. "And my name's Kitty."

"Oh, sorry!" Illyana perked up and a look of guilt washed over her face, turning slightly pink in the cheeks. "I didn't know; my _starshiy brat_ calls you Katya all time."

"...Who?"

"My brother, Piotr. He lives next to you, _da_."

In that moment, Kitty felt her soul lift right out of her body and then completely shatter. She was sure that Illyana spoke to her and shook her shoulders, but it was all white noise and blurry nothings to her now. The man she had been attracted to for months had a sister and she actually thought said sister was _**his girlfriend**_. Katherine Pryde was officially the dumbest person on Earth.

Then she started laughing.

Illyana jumped away and watched with her wide eyes as Kitty kept laughing. She curled into a tight ball of high-pitched giggles and rolled onto her side as the last of the air in her lungs squeezed out, leaving Kitty to wheeze through the remaining giggles. Illyana stood motionless, only shifting to take glances around the room. They were still alone, _slava Bogu_.

"O-Oh my God...!" Kitty gasped out and coughed once she started breathing again. Illyana knelt down to grab her shoulder and yank her upright. Kitty shook her head, her giggles finally dying down to deep breaths. "I-I can't believe I was so stupid... I thought you were Piotr's girlfriend or something like that, and I got _sooo_ jealous about it but you're actually his _**sister** _which makes _sooo_ much more sense and my brain just kinda broke right now and I'm sosososo sorry, Illyana!"

...

"...Could you repeat, Katya?"

Kitty slammed her head back into the side of a washing machine. Illyana cringed inwardly, took a seat next to Kitty and patted her knee. The brunette slumped her head down with a loud groan, only looking up at Illyana a long moment later.

"I'm so stupid, I'm sorry." Kitty whined, resting her head on her knees and trying to pull her jacket over herself. Illyana pulled it back down and started to smooth down the frayed hairs in her ponytail.

"_Net_, _net_. You're not stupid." Illyana cooed softly, idly fiddling with Kitty's hair as a distraction for her own nerves. "Just a...misunderstand, _da_?"

"Oh, God." Kitty inhaled deeply again, slumping even more against her legs. "This is the most embarrassing thing to ever, like, happen to me. **_Pleaaase_ **don't tell your brother; I might actually die."

"Piotr? I doubt he be bothered. He likes you too much, 'Katya'." The young Russian barely had a second to snap backwards to avoid being hit by Kitty's sudden upwards jolt. A bright toothy grin lit up her face, a sight that Illyana found herself enjoying after the display of madness not minutes ago. It suited the college girl far better for her tastes.

"He seriously likes me?" Illyana nodded with her own smile and, somehow, Kitty's own grew wider. Her cheeks flushed and she bit the inside of her cheek to hold back a loud squeal. Yeesh, no wonder Anna used to her call her 'boy crazy'. Not like she could help it; the last guy that shared her feelings turned out to be a complete dick stick. At least her friends agreed to let her punch Lance first if they ever saw him again.

Now a really sweet guy with a sweeter sister liked her and Kitty was excited.

"_Da_, Piotr says you're very nice and intelligent." Illyana smirked and stroked her hair back over her shoulder. "Ladies in the lobby tell him you always like to help others. Never complain."

Kitty snorted and shook her head, shifting so she was shoulder-to-shoulder with Illyana. "Trust me, I complain allll the time...to my roommate. But yeah, I like lending a hand when I can. It's just being decent."

"Good quality to have. Piotr alway say it's not common in cities like this."

"You can find the right people if you look hard enough." Judging from the laughing smile Illyana was giving her, Kitty was pretty sure she had done just that.

**0XX0**

Turning the doorknob and shrugging off her long coat, Rogue strode into her apartment in wide steps and dumped her things on a nearby armchair. She kicked the door closed behind her and let her entire day roll off her in giant tsunami waves. Dealing with that damn Cajun at the bookstore even after they made their deal was a test sent by the Lord himself. Sometimes she wished that Ororo was her birth mother, just so that she could have inherited her step-mother's endless patience and snark to deal with assholes.

Then she noticed that Kitty wasn't home alone.

On the couch was her roommate, the blonde girl living with Piotr and Lockheed sprawled out between them and purring in content. All three turned to look over at Rogue when the door made noise. Kitty was about to stand up but Rogue waved her down and made her way to the kitchen.

"Ya better be workin' on that big paper, Kitty. Don' wanna get a bad grade, do ya?"

"Shaddup. You're no better." Kitty picked Lockheed up for a cuddle, pouting her usual way to the Southerner. "I'm just spending time with Illyana, that's all."

"Hello." Illyana waved to Rogue and smiled, though those quickly died when she just looked the blonde over and then dived into the fridge. "I've been helping Katya get to know Piotr."

"Shouldn' ya actually go, y'know, talk to him?" Rogue threw a stink eye over her shoulder before picking up a bowl of cherries from the back of the fridge. Better than nothing.

Wait, why was she...?

"Are ya settin' those two up?" Rogue called out, grabbing the ladies' attention once again. Even Lockheed was staring at her. "Ya can't do that, Ah made a frickin' deal with Swamp Rat ta do it mah'self!"

"Oh, you talked to Remy!" Kitty and Illyana cheered in unison. They laughed and high-fived each other, leaving Lockheed to just stare like a deer in the headlights. Rogue narrowed her eyes at them.

"Ta get him to leave me **_alone_**, yeah."

"_Net_, this is good!" Illyana clasped her hands together and rubbed them like some sort of old Bond villain with the greatest plan ever. "We can use all help we can get, Rogue."

The Southerner blinked and started to contemplate her life choices as she was dragged over the plotting zone by two pairs of surprisingly strong twig arms. Sitting between the blabber mouths and trying to block out the white noise, Rogue made her choice:

She was gonna punch Remy.

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><p><em>Not the greatest chapter I could have written, but this took long enough to type out so I'm just leaving it as it is for now.<em>

_Leave your reviews, favourites and follows!_

**_Translations: _**  
><em>Zdravstvuyte - Hello<em>  
><em>Da - Yes<em>  
><em>Starshiy brat - Big brother<em>  
><em>Net - No<em>


	5. Chapter 5

_Another chapter, yay! I've been loving all the attention this fic has been getting; keep it coming! It's driving my will to update this as much as possible._

_This chapter, we get important introductions~_

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><p>Dating hadn't exactly been a field of interest that Rogue had been skipping around in since her sophomore year in high school. After dealing with Cody's accident and subsequent coma, the teenaged Rogue had distracted herself from the grief by swearing off all potential dates and diving neck-deep into her schoolwork. It had certainly paid off; she had gotten a scholarship to one of the top universities in the country alongside her best friend and even got offers to go abroad.<p>

However, it also meant that planning Kitty's date with Piotr next week (it was probably a good thing Illyana was helping; she got her brother to agree to the night out, and attempt to spend time with Kitty that wasn't through a doorframe) was Hell on Earth.

Initially, she had thought of buying tickets to a new rom-com film for the two of them (that's what couples do, right? Watch stupid actors pretending to be in love?) but when Kitty expressed her wishes to spend the date getting to know the Russian giant better, that plan was scrapped. Dinner at a restaurant was the cliche option that could hardly go wrong, but there weren't any good date-worthy places in the city that any of them could afford at the moment.

So here was Rogue now, lying defeated on her couch with her closed laptop on her stomach and praying that some grand idea came to her before it was time to get back to project work again.

Sure, she could just hand the reigns over to Illyana and stop wasting time, but Rogue had a deal to come through for. Not just her one with the Cajun, but the one she made to make her best friend the happiest woman on Earth no matter what. Because Rogue was super nice like that. After the whole Lance fiasco in high school and a long string of uninterested guys following that, Kitty deserved to have a good night out with someone who wasn't a complete asshole. Not that she was accusing Piotr of being such; she just hadn't known him long enough to fully asses him just yet.

Rogue loved a challenge with a big reward at the end, so there was no way she was going to give this up any time soon. It would just help if she had some sort of epiphany right now.

Then her laptop rang its familiar Skype jingle.

"Great..." She muttered under her breath, opening up the laptop anyway. The only people that called her online were her friends and family, and Rogue wasn't the type of person to ignore that contact. Especially being in college and so far away from them all, she feared drifting away from them. She feared them leaving her.

The laptop screen flashed awake and Rogue's smile broke out once she saw the contact name. She accepted the call.

"Anna!" A young child's giddy face filled the webcam space almost immediately and only backed away when Rogue greeted her. The webcam feed was a little bit fuzzy, but Rogue could still see every detail on the girl: Her soft black skin covered in dimples and freckles; dark (almost grey) hair tied up in pigtails with her favourite yellow scrunchies; big brown eyes that always shined, and cheeks any pinching fingers would die for. Such was the image of Rogue's little sister whom was calling from the far away lands of Canada.

"Ya gettin' bigger every time Ah see ya, Kenny." Rogue sat up, leaning against a cushion and adjusted her laptop so the webcam could capture the crappy apartment lighting better. "Ya eatin' your veggies like Ah told ya to?"

Her sister giggled and shook her head, biting on her lip. "Nuh uh! Pop got me eatin' lotsa burgers an' we-re-_red _meats, so I can be big 'n' strong like him."

"Pop has gotta eat veggies to grow big an' strong too." Rogue rolled her eyes but smirked anyway. It was the same conversation ever since she had moved away to college. Kendal Howlett was just as difficult with food as any other 5-year-old; Rogue won as many times as she lost. That was probably due to the half-sisters both inheriting their father's limitless stubborn streak. A curse on everybody they inflicted it upon!

"So why are ya callin' meh, lil' badger?"

"'Cause I can!" Kendal crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks out, which only served to make Rogue laugh. "And I hasn't talked to ya in evers. Jubie 'n' Laura don' wanna do anythin'."

"That's 'cause they're horrible teenagers, Kenny. Ah'm gonna have ta smack 'em when I come up for Thanksgivin', ain't I?" Kendal nodded. Rogue smiled more. Jubilee and Laura were their other two sisters. Adopted, and another half sister from a short relationship their father had in the aftermath of his divorce from Rogue's mother (if you could even call her that; she never acted like one to her. It was not a subject Rogue liked to talk much about). Both of them were currently in high school, full of hormones and puberty, and thus not old enough to appreciate the time spent with Kendal. They would soon enough, just as Rogue had not long ago.

"What'chu doin' anyways, Anna?" Kendal tilted her head and bounced in her seat, ignoring the loud voices in her background. Dad must be having trouble with the farmhands again. Rogue ran her fingers through her bangs and sighed.

"Ya remember Kitty, don'tcha?" Kendal nodded. "She met a nice guy an' Ah agreed ta help plan their first date. Ah can't think of a single thing."

"Eww, she gon' be mushing faces with him?"

"If she likes him enough."

"_Ewww_!"

"Ya know you wouldn' have been born if Pop hadn' mushed faces wit-"

"Nooo!" Kendal covered her ears and scrunched her face up. "You nasty!"

"Shush you," Rogue chuckled under her breath and rolled her shoulders, sighing when she felt one of them pop. Kendal glared at her, but just made her laugh more at the sheer absurdity of her face. Eccentric stink eyes certainly didn't fit pretty little girls like Kendal. "Ah still gotta come up with an idea for the date."

"Make 'em go get ice cwe-cream. It's good." Kendal said proudly.

"Ah'll put that on the idea list." Rogue smiled and Kendal returned it tenfold.

"Oh, an' walk on the beach!"

"The beach is a state away, Kenny..."

"So?"

Rogue rubbed her temple and then pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's really far away, sugah. Ah wanna keep it close. Maybe they can make a trip ta the beach another day, 'kay?"

"Fine." The girl pouted. "Momma lets me feed ducks at the lake. It's lotsa fun."

"I bet it is." There was a big park with a lake on the other side of town, actually. It was one of those nice parks that had a semblance of a budget to keep it clean and safe all year round. As far as Rogue knew from eavesdropping on freshman gossip on campus, it worked to great extent. Apparently, tea lights had been put in the trees and hedges for the winter season, and it was a sight to behold after sunset... "Kenny, ya are the best lil' sister I could wish for."

"Better than Jubie?"

"Ten times, sugah. She didn' just give meh the best first date idea ever."

**0XX0**

After about an hour of catching up with her sister, getting a dropped in message from Ororo and mentally planning out the date, Rogue finally made her way to the Rasputin apartment where Kitty had been spending the day with Illyana. She knocked on the door and opened it (everybody above the fifth floor almost never locked their doors before going to sleep. If they're going to be robbed, they're going to come through the windows not the front doors) before waltzing straight in.

"Kitty, Ah got ya date sorted out- What the hell?"

Now, Rogue had only seen the inside of the Rasputin apartment a couple of times in her entire time of living in this complex, but she knew that there was only one blonde and it wasn't the one currently staring up at a painting hanging on a drying rack. The woman was gazing intently at the painting, eying each brush stroke with a red-lipped smirk. She pushed back her short blonde locks into her extremely stylized hair. That was probably the best way Rogue could describe this stranger: stylized. Everything about her screamed high street, model and prissy. Even her sharp cheekbones seemed more expensive than Rogue's entire wardrobe, though they looked aged and fake under the piles of make up covering her face. The cigarette pack poking out of her skirt pocket explained it all too well.

The older woman finally noticed Rogue's gawking and peered back with those studying eyes. Rogue held back the urge to wince and walk away.

"Y' must be Anna Marie," She said in a Cajun accent, curling her smirk up more. Must be a friend of the Swamp Rat's. "I've heard 'bout y'."

"Mah name's _**Rogue**_. An' who are ya?" Rogue asked, not bothering to hide her bite. Who the hell had been spreading her name around?

"Oh, where are m' manners!" She laughed, though Rogue would've preferred to compare it to a witch's cackle. "Je suis Bella Donna. I'm Remy's _amie_."

Rogue bit down on her tongue and forced herself to smile in reply. The thought of Remy actually holding down a serious relationship of any kind just tickled her funny bone the way she liked it. But if Bella was here, then so was he...

_Perfect_.

"...'n' I'm tellin' ya, _mon ami_. Jus' fix some of 'em up 'n' it'll be fine- Roguey, y' showed up!"

Attention turned over to the other side of the apartment where Remy and Piotr were exiting from a room that stunk of oils and canvas. Normally, Rogue would have punched the Cajun's arm for the stupid nickname but she was more irritated by Bella. Maybe later.

Remy made his way over, smiling brightly as he kissed Bella's hair. Piotr trailed behind, giving Bella a sly side-look that Rogue barely caught. Good, she wasn't the only one.

"I was jus' introducin' m'self to Anna-"

"**_Rogue_**."

"-Marie here."

Bella leaned into Remy like a feline and he wrapped an arm around her slim shoulders. At least he had the decency to look alarmed at his girlfriend's use of her name. But that glimmer of respect went right back down the drain when he didn't mention it.

"Dat's nice, _belle_." Remy switched his gaze over to Rogue, somehow not cringing at her death-worthy glare. "Glad y' here, Rogue. We figured out what t' do for next week."

"Oh really?" He nodded. "'Cause it jus' so happens that I got an even better idea, Swamp Rat."

"Ve're always open to suggestions." Piotr said, sending Rogue an understanding glance. They were as uncomfortable as each other in this space.

"Least someone is. But Ah wanna run it by Kitty first." Translation: Get me out of here NOW.

"Da, of course." Piotr nodded, motioning his hand to the doors on the far side of the room. Rogue could see why the ladies downstairs spoke so highly of him. Kitty was lucky (Piotr was even luckier, but that was a thought for another time).

"Thanks." She quickly muttered, feeling Bella's eyes scorching the back of her head all of a sudden as she all but ran to the door that had a painting of a ballerina on it. Definitely girl's room. Rogue knocked on it and almost jumped out of her skin when it opened and Illyana's head popped out.

"Whatever y' _amazin_' idea is," Remy called over. Rogue wasn't looking but she **_knew _**he was frigging smirking. Damn rat. "it ain't gonna beat our double date."

"Double d- **_Whoa_**!" Four fantastically strong twig arms grabbed Rogue and pulled her into the room, slamming the door behind her. The Southerner toppled over onto a large beanbag and groaned. "The hell, Kit?"

"Sorry, it was the heat of the moment!" Kitty pulled Rogue up onto her feet and dusted her shoulders off before stepping back. Rogue shook her head and readjusted her favourite purple shirt. Great, more to add to the ironing pile. "We've been stuck in here for aaages avoiding Paris Hilton out there."

"Ah...see." Rogue took in the sight of the two new 'sisters-from-another-mister'; their messy hair, crumpled pajamas and various food packets littered around what used to be a garbage basket. Knowing Kitty, she wouldn't let herself be caught dead in her pajamas by a guy she liked, so obviously the situation was quite dire. Or they seriously hadn't left the room since this morning and thus were insanely paranoid about Bella.

Illyana flopped onto her large bed and whined out a few Russian curses. "This is terrible! They been here for hours and refuse to leave. I cannot be in same room as that _suka_."

Rogue raised an eyebrow. Sure, Bella was rudeness incarnate and had irked the ever living crap out of her in the few minutes they had spent interacting, but she hardly seemed like the type of person you would actively avoid for hours on end. To her surprise, Kitty nodded in agreement.

"I knooow. She makes you feel like a piece of trash, honestly."

"Ah'm...missin' somethin', ain't I?" Illyana and Kitty nodded in unison. Rogue crossed her arms and sighed. "Whatever it is, tell meh later. Kenny gave meh **_the _**best date idea for ya and Pete."

"Oh thank God!" Kitty relaxed her shoulders and smiled, enveloping Rogue in a tight hug. She patted her on the back. "Piotr let Remy talk him into this stupid double date with him and blondey, and I'm dreading the thought of eating fancy food at the same table."

"Ve only go along vith idea because Piotr cannot talk when he is alone with pretty girls."

"Shush yoooou."

"Never!" The two girls giggled and Rogue pushed herself away from her roommate.

"Trust meh, mah idea is waaay better-" Three pairs of eyes turned to the door when they heard a loud knock and a few muffled Russian words. It then opened and Piotr slipped inside, collapsing onto the beanbag in a huff. Illyana spoke to him in their native tongue and he replied in kind before sitting up.

"It is suffocating out there." He ran a hand through his short black hair and sighed heavily. "I can only take so much amateur painting criticisms."

"Bella fancies herself an arty fart, eh?" Rogue asked and Kitty confirmed. Piotr crossed his arms and flexed his fingers a few times. His cheeks were bright and he was barely holding in a few loud curses. Rogue could sympathize, somewhat. Her writing in high school was constantly scrutinized by AP English students who thought they knew everything about the English language after 2 weeks of reading Hamlet; it made her hate everything that ever ended up in her notebooks. Piotr was a professional painter with an art education and a small following in the gallery world; to be criticized by some average Picasso or Van Gogh fan was probably the most annoying thing in all of creation to him.

"Just ignore her, Pi." Illyana snorted. "Bella only care for herself and her _things_."

"Swamp Rat must put up with a load of crap from her then." It still astounded and amused Rogue that any woman could find any part of Remy flattering or charming; the way he had acted at the bookstore was only proof of that. An arrogant, self-absorbed rat, in and out.

But somehow that struck a wrong cord and now the Russian siblings were tense, barely glimpsing at each other. Even Kitty looked bewildered at the sudden silence. Illyana and Piotr had known the Cajuns much longer than Kitty or Rogue had, obviously, and knew more of that relationship. It still made Rogue question just _what _they knew.

"So, vhat was your idea?" Piotr cleared his throat and turned to Rogue along with Illyana. The Southerner stood frozen under their eyes, both intensely giving her a look that could only mean one thing:  
><em><br>You don't want to know_.

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><p><em>Translations:<em>  
>Je suis Bella Donna - I am Bella Donna<br>Amie - Girlfriend  
>Mon ami - My friend<br>Belle - Beauty/Beautiful  
>Suka - Bitch<p>

_Wow, this took much longer to write out than I had planned. No matter, we got Bella Donna and Kendal introduced! If you're wondering, Kendal is not an OC of mine. She's from an issue of 'Marvel: What If?' where Logan and Ororo had kids together. I only created her 5-year-old personality. I promise that this fanfic is 100% OC free._

_Future chapters are going to be so fun to write now~ I'll try and not write in Rogue's POV so much, but I can't make promises. In the meantime, I've been uploading character designs onto my art blog! The username is _** lochcamaenarts** _on tumblr, and I've uploaded Kitty, Rogue, Bella, Illyana and Lockheed already. I'll get to other characters later on._

_Please leave your thoughts and don't forget to fav/follow!_


	6. Chapter 6

_My updating schedule is the worst, I swear. I'm sorry for not updating this sooner, but this chapter was a real doozy to get done right (plus I got a new computer this week and had to set it up solo) and I'm still not sure it's great. But I didn't want to delay this one any further so here you go!_

_It's over 7000 words long, so enjoy it!_

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><p>The following week passed about as slowly as it possibly could have. Kitty, ever the perfectionist, went into an organising frenzy with Illyana (no matter how strange their friendship was, Rogue was grateful there was someone else Kitty could pour her crazy onto). To make sure she got some sleep and wasn't completely distracted from classes, Rogue and Remy put themselves in charge of checking restaurants; booking at an early enough time to watch the sunset in the park after eating; calling taxis to take them to each location; clearing all their schedules for the night, and then setting up an emergency line in case anything went wrong (this was more enforced by Remy during one of his visits to the bookstore. Rogue didn't see the point but she lost that battle after a couple of hours).<p>

Since when was a first date so complicated?

For the most part, the two Southerners managed not to kill each other in the whole process. Argued and fought like dogs in a ring? Every day. Remy seemed to love Rogue's instant reactions, which only led to more teasing and riling up. The only time Rogue found any peace around him was when Bella accompanied him and took up his time. The blonde Cajun practically crawled all over him when Rogue, Kitty or Illyana were in the room. Kitty was right about her being possessive at least.

The nagging Ororo-like voice in the back of Rogue's head encouraged her to get to know Bella before buying into the stories Illyana told them. This was especially difficult when Bella Donna Beaudreux was annoying as hell. Rogue let Remy know this and promptly started a heated argument in the middle of Piotr's apartment. They got back on speaking terms via a guilt trip from Kitty a day and a half later.

**0XX0**

On the day before the fated date, Rogue was dragged into the Rasputin apartment to help organise an outfit for Kitty. She and Kitty had polar opposite fashion tastes, so that went as well as it could for them. After leaving her laptop with them on a Skype call with Ororo (she was a fashion queen and loved Kitty as one of her own; there was no one better to lend a hand), Rogue mosied on back to the living room only to find Remy already in there.

With Lockheed.

Traitor.

The Russian Blue was circling Remy's feet, rubbing against his shin and purring loudly as the Cajun took several close-ups photos of Piotr's paintings scattered over the floor. He took a moment to scratch behind Lockheed's ear, which made the cat lean into him and almost fall over. Rogue raised her eyebrows, catching the tom's attention with a glare. He mewed and shirked away. This, in turn, brought Remy's attention onto her.

"_Bonjour_, Rogue." Remy moved a painting aside and put his phone away, a smirk plastered all over his face. Lockheed immediately took up the space.

"Attention whore." Rogue muttered aloud, glaring at the stupid cat. Weren't cats supposed to hate everyone?

"Now now, Roguey–" She growled. "–dat's not de way t' treat a _chat_."

"Ah've called 'im worse before." Rogue defended, rolling her eyes hard enough to make it hurt. "An' Ah told ya ta stop callin' meh that."

"I agreed not t' bother y' 'bout your name. I jus' found a loophole." Lockheed rubbed against Remy again and pawed at the ends of his coat sleeves, catching a claw in the stitching which led to a loud baby-like cry. The brunette chuckled and bent down to free the paw, waving a finger in front of him to chase.

That damned smirk disappeared before it could annoy Rogue any further, and though she hated to admit it, the sight of the Cajun playing with Lockheed was...sweet. That friggin' trench coat just about ruined the image, though. How low in society did you have to be to find that thing acceptable in public?

No, she was never going to let it go.

Speaking of names, however...

"Did ya tell Bella mah name?"

Remy lifted his gaze back up to her, somewhat confused. He stood up straight, taking Lockheed into his arms and shaking his head. "Didn't know y' name b'fore she mentioned it dat day, _ami_."

"Then how in the **_hell_ **did she find out?" Rogue put her hands on her hips, trying her best to sneer down her nose at the man much taller than her. Remy hardly seemed impressed. Lockheed was pawing him for stroking.

"Dere was a list she was starin' at in de lobby last week." He rolled his shoulders back and obeyed the cat's command. "Must've caught it dere."

"And...you still keep usin' **the** name." Rogue mused. She had seen first-hand how Remy would use anything to get a rise out of her, and how much he had wanted to know her 'real' name. But 'Rogue' and 'Roguey' were as far as he went, whether or not Bella was around.

"A deal's a deal, right?" He asked, putting Lockheed down on the couch away from Piotr's drawing pads. "I ain't dat bad wit' requests."

"Right..." Rogue mumbled under her breath. Something felt off about this...

"Don'tcha trust _moi_?"

"Of course not." She answered without a beat, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Ah only tolerate ya so Kitty can have a nice night out. After that, I'm bleachin' mah brain 'n' curb stompin' ya face."

Remy barked out a laugh and crossed his arms tightly. He bit his bottom lip, holding back a whole round of laughs. "I'd hate t' see what you'd do to a _homme_ y' hate, Rogue."

"Maybe you'll find out."

"_Oui_, 'maybe'." He smirked, took out his phone again, and then bent down to take a photo of a small canvas leaning against a pair of propped up shoes that Lockheed was trying to claw at. Once that was done, Remy moved the painting and picked up his ratty shoes.

"Don' worry, I'll be outta y' hair quick."

"God, Ah hope so." Rogue scoffed when she saw the Cajun snatch cat hair off of his coat and shoes. For a guy who loved cuddling Lockheed just moments ago, he sure was prissy about the fur.

She then turned away and made way to the door, feeling a hernia forming just from being around the guy for so long. The stress from dealing with him **_and_** schoolwork on a regular basis was going to kill her within the year. Yeesh, no wonder Kitty told her she was so grumpy all of the time.

"See y' later, Roguey!"

She slammed the door behind her.

**0XX0**

The night of the date came no sooner or later than Kitty had wanted it to. With Illyana's help and the two Southerners arranging everything for them, Kitty and Piotr had practically nothing to worry about.

With her laptop and textbooks crammed away for the night and Rogue currently applying eyeshadow to her lids, Kitty could barely hold in her excitement.

"Sugah, Ah can't make ya look pretty if ya keep budgin'." Rogue flicked her nose and Kitty pouted.

"You think I'm not pretty all the time?" Kitty asked, crossing her arms defiantly. Rogue gave her a look that, after years of familiarizing herself with, translated to: "Are ya friggin' kiddin' meh?"

"No, Ah think ya look fabulous." Rogue swatted her ear and then held her head up to face her. "But we don' wanna scare tha poor guy, so we'll tone ya down for tonight."

Kitty refrained from biting down on her lip (the make up was still fresh) and snorted instead, which earned her another swat and an earring in the eye. Sitting on her hands and trying to keep her face straight, Kitty settled for swinging her legs between the stool bars.

In the small mirror hanging on the wall, the young college woman watched her best friend carefully apply the layers of make up - both natural and colourful - to her features with the most careful precision. Her hair had been curled and twisted into a thick braid to the side of her head, adorned with dark pearls and pins holding it all together. She was still in her baggy pajamas but had her dress sorted out with Ororo's help the day before.

After hearing that the date was going to be a double effort with Remy and Bella, Kitty had become overcome with worry. Illyana had done her the grace of telling her what Bella was _**really** _like, and after spending several days dealing with her frequent visits, Kitty knew them to be utterly true.

The 'visits' had started off innocently enough. Bella was civil and often complimented Kitty, which made her feel great about herself but after the first few comments, it became clear that she was just saying those things to cover up insults. It got worse after she let it slip that she was Jewish; Bella went full on 'concern troll'.

Now Kitty hated the thought of her, but she wasn't going to let her ruin her date. With all the preparation in place, she felt like she was the prettiest woman on Earth and no snide remark from Bella Donna was going to change that. She could handle the Cajun bitch for one night if that meant helping Piotr with his nervousness. At least they could get away in the park after dinner.

"There ya go, all done."

Kitty perked up and looked at herself in the mirror again, smiling widely at the sight.

"Oh my God, Anna..." Kitty leaned in for a closer look, studying each thick mascara lash, her perfectly trimmed eyebrows, her plush cheeks (she couldn't even see the scratches Lockheed had left last night), each stroke of purple eyeshadow that made her violet eyes shine brighter, and the evenly shaped painted lips that outlined her pearly white grin.

"Ready ta conquer the world, Ah'd say." Rogue dusted her hands off and put her tools down. Seeing Kitty so happy put a small smile on her lips; ever since **_Lance_**, Kitty had never really been able to see herself as more than average, and with Bella making fun of her for the past few days, it had only gotten worse.

"Oh God, I don't know what to say..." Kitty whispered and turned around to envelope Rogue in a tight hug. The Southerner tensed up, not sure what to do with her own hands before settling for patting the top of her friend's head. "Thank you so much, Anna!"

"Hey hey, it's no problem, sugah." Rogue replied. "Now lemme go, Ah have a reputation ta uphold."

"Nooo, I must hug the everloving crap out of you."

"Ah swear if ya tell anybody..."

"Nope. This is our lil' secret. You're seriously the best friend I could ever hope for." Kitty let go of Rogue and sniffed.

"Even Illyana?"

"Are you kidding me?" Kitty threw her arms up and gawked at Rogue. "Illyana's awesome but she's not the one who spent 3 days looking for my favourite lipstick brand in the places she hates the most."

"Not like I could let you go out when you had shit to do." Rogue mumbled and checked her nails, rolling her shoulders slowly.

"Hell no!" Kitty bounced around and wrapped her arms around her friend once more. "You **and** Illyana have helped keep me sane since this all started. You're the best!"

"Sugah, I- Kitty, too tight!"

"Sorry!" Kitty released her grip and Rogue took a long deep breath, which only made her lungs burn more.

"Ah'm good now, thanks." She drawled before gently patting Kitty's hair. "Ya jus' concentrate on havin' a good night out now. Once Ah get ya to the restaurant safe, Ah can finally relax."

"I'll make you proud, don't worry." Kitty giggled and rolled her eyes. "As much as you love to pretend you're still Sophomore Goth Girl, Anna, we all know you've got a soft gooey center."

Rogue scoffed and frowned at Kitty, cursing herself for not putting more make up on to hide the blush creeping to her cheeks. Now Kitty was smirking. Damn biology!

"No, Ah ain't Sophomore Goth Girl no more," Rogue turned on her heel and headed toward the door, hands firmly on her hips. "but Ah am April Ludgate!"

Before Kitty could react, Rogue had opened the door and slipped out like a snake.

"You're the one who took my Parks And Rec boxset!" Kitty shouted through the wood. Rogue grinned and laughed loud enough for her to hear clearly.

"Ah prefer tha term 'borrowed'!" She shouted back. "Now get ya dress on, the taxi's gonna be here in an hour!"

"Fine! But I'll get you back with my Knope love!"

Rogue just laughed again.

**0XX0**

Over in apartment 19, things were certainly a lot quieter but just as hectic and busy. Lockheed (who had been dropped there by Rogue to keep Kitty fur-free) was watching Illyana rush between rooms to find a fresh pair of trousers since the planned pair had a fresh paint stain on them now. Besides the cat sat Piotr himself, dressed in his finest pair of boxers and a loose-fitted yellow shirt.

"_Illyana_," He called out in his Russian tongue. "_Calm down_,_ we have plenty of time_."

"_No_, _we don't_!" Illyana shouted back in the same tongue. She poked her blonde head out of the kitchen with a pout. "_You could help_, _Piotr_."

"_I would just get in your way_." He replied, running a hand through his short black hair. Lockheed mewled and pawed his arm. Piotr brushed him off. Illyana ran out of the kitchen and into his room for the seventh time.

"_Brother_, _you have so many dirty clothes_!"

"_Those are my work clothes_, _Illyana_. _They're supposed to be dirty_."

"_Not this much_!" Illyana, arms full of Piotr's clothes, walked out and dumped them into their laundry basket. She then turned to him and her pout became a full scowl. "_Why are you sitting down_? _You're going to ruin your shirt_."

"_Illyana_, _you worry too much_–"

"_I worry a normal amount_!" She kept frowning as Piotr stood up and gripped her shoulders. "_Why aren't you_?"

"_Trust me_,_ I am worrying_." He replied. Illyana whined and slumped against her taller brother's grasp. "_I'm as nervous as ever_, _but I'm keeping a calm face_. _Running around like a headless chicken_-" Whine. "-_is not going to help anybody_."

"_It's not easy for me, Piotr_. _So many things could go wrong tonight_–"

"_I doubt so_." Piotr bent down face to face with Illyana. "_You've put a lot of work into this with the others and it's going to work out perfectly_."

"_Will you have a full conversation with Katya_?" Piotr flicked her nose playfully and she giggled.

"_I'll work on it_, _and Remy will be there to help_." Piotr let go and stepped away. Illyana shook her head. As much as Piotr talked about staying calm and collected, they both knew that his nerves took over whenever it came to talking to anyone he didn't know all too well, unless someone was there to help kick-start a conversation. He had gotten much better over the last few years, but there was still a long way to go. Illyana was glad Kitty understood that; hopefully they would last more than one date.

"_Come on_, _Illyana_. _Let's find the trousers_."

**0XX0**

"Taxi's here, hurry up!"

The doors between apartments were wide open and Lockheed trotted between them, until Rogue swept him up and almost chucked him into their kitchen. He hissed at her and she glared back. Kitty hobbled past them both.

"Where's my shoe, Anna?"

"Why don'tcha have it on?!"

"You kicked it–"

"Just find it, ya gotta get goin'!"

"I know!" Kitty all but slammed the apartment door behind Rogue and the stripe-haired auburn blinked. Just as predicted, Kitty was going insane at the last minute. Hopefully the neighbours wouldn't complain. She grumbled and walked into the apartment opposite, where it was considerably more peaceful. This was hopefully a good sign...

"Lord pray tell meh that ya ready ta go, Piotr." Rogue turned a corner into the kitchen and found the Russian siblings together. Illyana held a comb and Kitty's missing shoe while Piotr was going through his phone with her. They looked over to Rogue and smiled.

"Ve just go through emergency numbers and such, Rogue." Illyana replied, handing the comb to Piotr and skipping around him to head out the way Rogue had entered. "And smack Lockheed! He steal everything!"

That explained the damn shoe. Attention whore, always and forever.

Rogue turned to Piotr just as he pocketed his phone and put the comb on the counter. She looked him over and smiled to herself. Seems the idea of 'formal casual' had been spread as a memo to everyone tonight- _Oh God, please don't let him become a 'group'. Lord no..._

Piotr was currently the definition of 'simple', and it did him wonders. The large open brown blazer with the light yellow shirt, neatly pressed trousers and dress shoes dwarfed the 6ft 5" muscle mass and made him look as harmless as a big puppy. That would help Kitty's nerves at least. All that was out of place was his short, spiked hair. A comb wasn't going to do a thing.

"Ya look marvelous, Piotr." Rogue said truthfully. "Kitty's gonna love it. Just wet down ya hair an' you'll be perfect."

With that and a quiet 'thank you' from the Russian, she turned and told him to hurry for the taxi. Rogue already had her coat and boots on, so she was all set to go hold the car for the lovebirds. She hoped to be back at the building complex in time to catch the new episode of American Horror Story.

Just as she entered the hallway, apartment 20 opened and Kitty stepped out in all her splendor. Like Piotr, she had kept herself simple and elegant but still very glamorous. Her knee-high purple dress hugged every curve on her, which her golden belt only emphasized but the black shrug made sure that only her calfs and collar bone were left bare. In her hands she squeezed her purse bag tightly.

Rogue whistled and laughed when her best friend turned bright red.

"Don't give me that look, ya look wonderful." Rogue told her.

"Shaddup." Kitty replied, fiddling with her nails in an attempt to hide the slight smirk on her lips. "It's not **_that_ **amazing."

"Illyana, are you– _**Wow**_." Piotr almost tumbled over his own feet as he appeared behind Rogue, taking in the sight of Kitty in full and turning a familiar shade of red as well.

"Told ya, Kit."

**0XX0**

The drive to the restaurant, '_Italia_', had been...special, to say the least. All attempts at conversation had failed for the first 15 minutes until the driver (a lovely single mother called Marina) started talking about her own daughter also nicknamed Kit, which all somehow led to a discussion about some English painter with a biography film coming out in a few months. Mr. Turnip? Mr. Turner? Neither Rogue nor Illyana really cared; they were just there to make sure the date-ees arrived in one piece.

Once they pulled up, the afternoon sun was beginning to sink and the lights were turning on in the street. None of them had been to this side of the city before; college and work didn't allow time for local exploration, but they could easily tell this was the upper class side, if such a thing was possible in a student dominated area of the state. With all the tea lights and lamps hung by the buildings, it actually looked quaint. Pretty, even.

"Here we go, dears. Have a nice meal." Marina chirped as Piotr got out of the car and went over to open Kitty's door. Once they were both out, Rogue and Illyana rolled both their windows down and poked their heads out into the autumn air.

"Don't go into the alleyway."

"Bring her home before eleven; Kitty has an early class in tha mornin'."

"Call numbers if anything happen–"

"We'll be right there 'n' ready to kick ass."

Kitty and Piotr rolled their eyes in unison and groaned. They had heard the same spiel a dozen times all week long and they more-or-less had it etched onto their brain cells. They certainly didn't need to hear it again any time soon.

"_Mon ami_!" Piotr jumped when Remy clasped a hand over his shoulder and shook him roughly. Kitty stepped away and quickly glanced around; no blonde in sight.

"Hello, Remy." Piotr shrugged his hand off, slowly edging towards Kitty and repeating her actions. He relaxed when he saw the same as her. "Thank you for coming."

"Hey, it's my pleasure. I know what dis means t' y'." Remy replied, sticking his thumbs into the pockets of his black suit vest and rolling back on the heels of his own dress shoes.

"Rem!" Illyana cried from her spot. She shoved her arms out of the window and waved them. The Cajun smiled at her and went over, only to be snapped into her vice-like grip. "Don not ruin tonight for Piotr, Frenchie. I vill know."

"I know y' will, _pischouette_." Remy returned the hug and chuckled, leaning down so Illyana wasn't hanging half way out of the car. "I will be a perfect gentleman."

"God, gag meh with a spoon." Rogue groaned, loud enough to echo and earn her a few looks from bystanders. And Remy's smug smirk.

"Nice t' see y' outside de cave like a human bein', Roguey." He slipped out of Illyana's arms and stepped over to face Rogue. She glared at him from under her white bangs, huffed and blew a stray strand from her face.

"Ha ha, funny. Ah'll be killin' ya first in the vampire apocalypse."

"Can't wait, River Rat."

"Yeah, ya– R–_**River Rat**_?! Are ya friggin' kiddin' meh?"

Remy bolted backwards before Rogue could claw at him and he laughed, hunching his shoulders over without an attempt to hide his delight. Illyana hid her snorting laugh behind her hand.

"I never said I was de creative type, Rogue."

"Oh mah God, you're such an _**asshole**_." Rogue growled and felt that hernia again. Maybe a restraining order on the douche would keep her blood pressure under control, and her sanity in check. Maybe it was too late for the latter. "An' Ah will beat you blind if ya fuck tonight up."

"I already gave m' word t' Illyana that I wouldn'. I ain't dat bad wit' requests." Remy crossed his arms and glanced over to Kitty and Piotr, who were having their own awkward conversation by themselves.

Rogue shook her head and huffed again, leaning against the car door. He _had_ proven himself on that end of things, and with all the work she had personally put into tonight, not even Remy could wreck it.

Not-so-old habits die hard, right?

"Uh huh, don' stain ya pants." Rogue slumped back into the car seat and sighed heavily, watching as a familiar blonde joined in Kitty and Piotr's discussion.

"I should get goin' t' our table now, gals." Remy reached inside Rogue's open window and managed to pat her cheek without losing his arm (Rogue resorted to screeching about 'it touched meh!' which made Marina snort). He then went to Illyana and hugged her once more.

"Have fun, Remy. See you tomorrow." She smiled and looked over Remy's shoulder. Her eyes widened and her heart sank at what she saw.

"We will, kiddo. See y'." Remy let go of her and turned around, spotting Bella in her short black dress, red shawl wrapped around her shoulders and high heels beside Piotr and narrowing her eyes like a lioness on the prowl. They both knew that look and Illyana gulped.

"_Mne ochen' zhal'_..." She whispered, holding herself back from clutching onto his red shirt sleeve as Bella glided over to her boyfriend, every click of her heels like another dagger into Illyana's guilty conscious. She pulled herself into the car just as Bella reached them, taking Remy's arm into her own with a death grip, claws and all.

"We'll be fine, Illyana." Remy put his hand over Bella's holding him and kissed her forehead. "_Au revoir_, _dames_."

Bella just nodded and waved to them, smiling at them with bright red lips. Her eyes didn't shine. Illyana quickly rolled her window back up.

"See ya in Hell, assbutt." Rogue called out before rolling her own window up as Marina started driving away. Illyana could have sworn she saw Bella's stalking eyes flash just then.

**0XX0**

Inside the restaurant, the date group were placed at a large table next to the windows overlooking the sparsely populated street. Thanks to precautions taken days before, their meals were with them before their seats were even warm. Normally, Kitty would have liked to have had a pre-meal conversation to help pass the time and get to better know her companions for the night, but she was thankful for the hindsight; sipping at her appetizer soup allowed her to avoid eye contact with Bella, who was sat opposite her and far too close to Remy to be polite.

The silence between them all was only broken once they had all finished their soups and Remy began to delve into the 'epic tale' of how he and Piotr had first met years ago. Bella rolled her eyes and turned her attention to her phone; Kitty could tell how often she had been subjected to the story. At least she was smart enough to distract herself before getting sucked in.

At least.

"Many moons ago, when Pete first came to the US of A 'n' I was workin' under my _nonc_, he 'n' de famous Steve Rogers–"

"Isn't he the guy who paints all those murals in New York?" Kitty asked, tightening her grip on the bread piece in her hands as she pictured the many photos of amazing paintings she had seen online.

"_Da_," Piotr replied, taking a piece of bread and using it to soak up the last drops of soup. "among other things. He is very influential."

"_Oui_, I remember y' bein' so star struck–"

"_Otebis'_, I was not."

"Don' t'ink I don't know what dat means, Pete." Remy laughed and nudged the larger Russian. Piotr smirked slightly, which pushed the Cajun to continue the story.

"So, Rogers 'n' my _nonc_ set up a workshop for," He put his hands up in air quotes, "'buddin' artists' t' help 'em set up portfolios for school 'n' college. Piotr came along, all shy 'n' dazzled–"

Piotr snorted and Kitty giggled into her mouthful of bread.

"–_Nonc_ couldn' get a word outta 'im, so he sent _moi_ in t' break him down. A few sketches later an' he looked 'bout ready t' murder me."

"Wait wait," Kitty blinked and rubbed her temples. "You two hated each other? **_How_**."

"He hated _moi_. I didn' like him. Big difference."

"I did not **_hate_ **you, Remy." Piotr said in defense. "I severely loathed you. 'Big difference'."

Both girls chuckled and Kitty stopped herself short, not wanting to bring herself closer to the eavesdropping blonde opposite her. So much for ignoring them.

"Fiiine, statement retracted." Remy rolled his eyes and then gave Piotr a dirty look. "Point bein', we didn' get along at first, or at all 'til Pete's first exhibit under m' management. Took 'bout a year or two but we're de best of friends now that I'm de reason he gets any work."

Remy ducked to avoid Piotr's fist and laughed at his glare. Bella tucked her phone away and ran a hand through her boyfriend's hair, muttering under her breath in Cajun French. Remy whispered back to her and she ruffled him lightly. They laughed, and Kitty almost believe they were, above all else, normal.

**0XX0**

The main course arrived to them not long after, spreading a strong aroma of well-cooked salmon, lamb and chicken with thick spices, sauces and rich cheeses melted on top around their corner of the restaurant. Even with the buttery bread still lingering on their tongues, all of their stomachs rumbled at the sight laid in front of them. As they were sprinkling salt, vinegar and gravy onto their dishes, Remy excused himself to the bathroom.

Once he was out of earshot, Kitty put her knife down and looked around to Piotr.

"I feel kinda stupid for asking, but what **_is_ **his job?"

"Remy organises art galleries for companies and artists, on commission." Bella answered, slicing her meat into slender pieces and drizzling gravy onto them with acute accuracy so that none of it would touch the vegetables. Kitty held back her urge to wrinkle her nose.

"Thanks, that's interesting..." She said instead, doing her best to keep her tone polite and civil. Bella just smirked and picked up her fork.

"_Oui_, his work does have several perks to it. Such a blessin' he didn' waste years in college t' get dis far."

Good God, she wasn't even trying anymore! Kitty bristled much like her namesake and only bit down on the comeback sitting on the tip of her tongue when Piotr asked her to pass him a bread stick. She obliged him and saw a warning in his eyes. Right, they were on a date. In public. She could curse Bella's attitude when she was back in the apartment and in the company of her friends.

Kitty exhaled slowly and began to eat, if only to make an excuse to not talk any more. Piotr, in a moment of miraculous social courage, began to ask Kitty about her college course. She knew that Illyana had probably told him as much, but Bella had zero idea about her scholarship or about her having a record-breaking GPA in the college's Computer Programming course for almost 2 years in a row. Rogue had often joked that she could force Apple and Microsoft into bankruptcy in her sleep if she really wanted to.

The look on the blonde's face when she told Piotr about her latest side project of completely rewriting the IT lab's entire network to filter out hacker IPs so that they would they could only access an isolated server without harming the security of the main servers, was absolutely priceless.

**0XX0**

When the sun began to darken and dip dangerously low in the sky, the four of them skipped out on dessert and the Cajuns led them towards the park Kitty had only heard stories about from Rogue. Thankfully, it was only just down the street from the restaurant and the walk meant that some space could be put between the two couples.

Kitty and Piotr walked side by side as they entered the green park through an archway of red and green vines. Some tea lights and lanterns had been hung up, but none were lit yet as the sun still glared through the gaps between branches and leaves on every tree they passed. Some feet ahead of them, Remy and Bella walked at a slow pace with their arms wrapped around each other and whispering Cajun sweet nothings to each other.

Kitty held onto her purse and crossed her arms, mindlessly rubbing her arms slowly as she and Piotr took in their surroundings. They spared each other a glance every other step, only managing to catch each other's eyes when the sky melted into a dark mix of orange and purple clouds. The lights hanging from the branches and benches began to light up one by one, creating an almost heavenly pathway for them to follow. Piotr took his gaze off Kitty when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and looked at the message on its screen.

[[_ask her about dinner, couillon_.]]

[[_What about it?]]_

[[..._r u serious? what she liked best, if the fish was nice, did she like the service WHICH SHE SHOULD I PAID FOR IT !]]_

[[_Calm down, I get the point.]]_

[[_hurry up, Casablanca before u lose ur chance_.]]

[[_Learn to spell_.]]

[[_over my dead illiterate body, petey_. _now make a smooth move_.]]

A stone flew past Piotr's shoulder and he looked up to see Remy motioning to him, eyes wide and hands practically flailing. Bella stepped away to avoid getting hit. The Russian narrowed his icy eyes at the Cajun, who just shrugged and turned back around.

"Everything alright, Piotr?" Kitty asked, raising an eyebrow at him and playing with the end of her braid, pulling out the pearl pins and loosening the ties. Her hair was starting to take its natural form again, and Piotr felt the heat in his cheeks and ears.

"_D-Da_, _da_. Everything is great." Piotr nodded and stuck his phone deep into his pocket, trying to think of a way to distract his hands. "You?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah!" Kitty perked up and smiled sweetly, keeping close to the taller man. "Dinner was really good, I liked it. And the food too."

Piotr chuckled and smiled back, which only made Kitty's cheeks rosier. He elected to ignore the buzzing phone in his pocket to get a longer moment with her delighted expression. It was probably just Remy trying to give his 'suggestions'. Piotr knew what he was doing. Kind of.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Katya."

"We've still got the rest of the evening to enjoy." Kitty rolled her neck and laughed. "From what Anna's told me about the lake here, it's gonna be amaziiiiing."

Piotr chuckled again and took a deep breath, sorting through his thoughts and re-translating everything twice over. "I've heard the same."

"Think you'll get any inspiration?" Kitty gently nudged his arm with her elbow and Piotr almost tripped over his own feet. Damn, he hadn't prepared himself for questions like that. Illyana had only gone over 'date basics' with him and hadn't even suggested that Kitty would ask about his artwork at all and oh why can't he say something so he doesn't look so stupi– "You could totally do a watercolour painting with the lights to go with the...water, in the lake... That sounded better in my head."

"_Net_, _net_ it's a good idea!" Piotr ran a hand through his hair and then rubbed the back of his neck, trying to smile just like her. Sure, watercolours to depict a water scene was an overused cliche but he could do with the practice in the medium. And Kitty was trying to get involved with his hobbies, if what Illyana had told him about her lack of knowledge of the artisans had been any kind of clue.

"I'm sure you'll make it a great one." Kitty rubbed her hands together, trying not to shiver from the cold breeze playing around her ankles. "I saw some of your recent work; it's amazing."

"Y-You think so?"

"Yeah!" She cleared her throat and repeated herself in a hushed voice. "You've got great talent."

"It's more to do with years of practice than talent..."

"I'll believe that when I see it." She smirked, rolling her eyes behind her eyelids.

"I still have examples from my early years." He gulped and pursed his lips upon realising what he had just implied. "I-If you vant to see them, th-that is."

Kitty bit down on her lip but it hardly did anything to hide her beaming grin and the look of absolute delight on her face when she nodded to him. Piotr himself relaxed and picked up his pace, with Kitty matching his footfall easily. As the sky darkened to red and navy blue, the air became clearer and the lights brighter. They took in the sights and smells with naive awe, staring up into the high arcs of the trees when Remy was shouting at them.

"Lovebirds, get up 'ere! Y' gon' miss it!"

In a moment of madness, Kitty surged forward and pulled Piotr along by his wrist, running toward the Cajun couple standing over a white wood railing that accompanied the sounds of tranquil and serene waves splashing against the sloping shores of the park lake. Remy leaned against his crossed arms on the wood, while Bella was turned away from him and exhaling a long cloud of smoke from her newly-lit cigarette. She relaxed back with every breath she took and smiled without a care in the world.

Kitty and Piotr reached them within moments and the young woman gasped loudly when she finally caught sight of the sunset hovering over the lake surface. Light bounced off every edge and shone in a rainbow of dark colours that bounced off the low hanging clouds drifting around the shimmering sun and faded moon opposite. Oranges, reds, pinks, yellows, purples and greys mixed together in layered strokes, contrasting against the almost white sun in a way that only nature could create and was the envy of every creative mind to have gazed upon it.

Remy watched the couple as Kitty stood on the tips of her toes to get a better look over the water, pointing to a pair of waterfowl swimming toward the other end of the water bank and trying to get a picture of the swans...until they swam closer and the four of them saw it was a pair of Canadian geese. Kitty shrieked and almost dropped her phone into the water. Piotr caught it and the group made an appropriate run when a gaggle of geese began to move over to them.

They zipped down the cobbled pathway until Bella pulled them to a stop at a bench, sat down and gently massaged her ankles, grumbling under her breath about stupid geese and how running in heels was a death trap. Remy sat next to her, wiping a sweat off his brow and rubbing her back slowly.

"Better than gettin' attacked by de geese, eh? I'll give y' a foot rub later, _petite amie_." He winked at her and smirked, brushing a lock of blonde hair out of her eyes. Bella nodded and hummed, closing her eyes and digging her thumb into her muscle. Remy sighed softly and glanced over his shoulder to Kitty and Piotr.

Kitty was sitting against the armrest of the bench, covering her mouth with one hand as the other held onto Piotr, who wore a laughing smile and was doing his best not to double over.

"O-Oh my God, I've never run so fast!" Kitty squeaked and snorted, bending over herself. Piotr nodded in agreement and inhaled deeply in an effort to calm down. However, Kitty's giggles were just bringing more laughter to him.

"V-Why from geese? They would not h-harm us–"

"A-Are you kidding? Geese are evil creatures; they smell fear!"

Piotr bent his head down and Kitty followed him for another burst of giggles bubbling in her chest, not caring about how red their faces would be once they calmed down later. Remy smiled at them, pressing the edge of his palm into Bella's shoulder blades.

_Mission accomplished._

**0XX0**

The door clicked shut and the locks set themselves in place automatically as Remy and Bella made way into their abode. Remy shook his hair out and tugged his shoes off, sighing in relief when his feet were able to stretch again. In the corner of his eye, he caught Bella unceremoniously kick her heels off in the kitchen and slam her purse onto the counter. He rubbed his eyes and evened his breath; it was best to stay stoic when Bella became upset. He should have thought of this earlier...

"Belle, I can still give ya dat foot rub if y' want," Remy said loud and clear, approaching their small and bright kitchen area with his gaze focused on the floor. He could see her feet by the counter, reaching up. She was muttering in Cajun under her breath again, but he couldn't catch a word of it. He risked a glance up at her face. "We can run a bath, dim de lights 'n' relax–"

A sharp slap across his face cut him off.

"You did it **_again_**." Remy could taste blood on his tongue. "Y' went behind my back **_again_**!"

A thin cut shaped in the arc of a nail bled across his cheek. He put a hand up to hide the red.

"I've **_told_ **ya! How can I trust y' when y' do dis to me?!"

His wide eyes stared at a tile. His bangs hung over them like a blind. A million thoughts raced through his mind: _she was getting better what did I do merde I thought they were fine God it hurts it was going so well why won't it stop hurting_–

"Remy, _LOOK AT ME_!"

Dull brown eyes moved to look up into piercing hazel ones. Gradually, he lifted his head and dropped his hand, unable to pull away from her narrowed gaze. The red dripped onto the marble.

Bella jumped back into the counter, hands flying to her mouth and eyes wide, brimming with tears. "_O-Oh, mon Dieu_...R-Remy, I–"

She reached out to him and he pulled back. Her eyes flashed.

"Why are y' scared of me, Remy? Y'know I can't help dis. It's not m' fault!"

"_N_-_Non_, I–" A sting in his jaw flinched him and he winced, holding the sore bone again. Avoiding her eyes again.

Delicate fingers pulled his away and Remy bit down on his tongue. Bella pressed her lips to his cheek and another ache rolled through him. She whispered to him, and he nodded even though he heard none of it. He tried to even his breath as more more thoughts sped through his head, all screaming at him and refusing to be shut out one more time.

As Bella took his arm and lead him towards their bedroom, her words filled with promises to take care of him and keep him safe, one thought cried out at him the loudest.

_Why_.

* * *

><p><em>Oh wow, I'm going to die hahaaaa.<em>

_*Ahem* Anyway, thanks for waiting and reading the latest chapter! Lots of references to the Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel comic series because I love them both. Piotr and Illyana's scene in the beginning of the chapter was spoken entirely in Russian, but I wrote it as English so you could understand it, hence the italics._

**Translations:**

_Bonjour_ – Hello  
><em>ami<em> – Friend  
><em>moi<em> – Me/My  
><em>homme<em> – Man  
><em>Oui<em> – Yes  
><em>Mon ami<em> – My friend  
><em>pischouette<em> – Little girl  
><em>Mne ochen' zhal'<em> – I'm so sorry  
><em>Au revoir<em>, _dames_ – Goodbye, ladies  
><em>nonc<em> – Uncle (I use genuine Cajun French for Remy and Bella. There will be no 'oncles' in this fic)  
><em>Da –<em> Yes  
><em><em>Otebis'<em>_ – Fuck off  
><em>couillon<em> – Idiot  
><em>Net –<em> No  
><em>petite amie<em> – Sweetheart  
><em>Non<em> – No  
><em>merde<em> – Shit  
><em>Oh mon Dieu<em> – Oh my God


End file.
